Hundreds of Shropshire children having decayed teeth out in hospital, report reveals
More than 560 children living in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin had decayed teeth taken out under general anaesthetic in just one year, a meeting has heard.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
A shocking 17 per cent of children in the county have tooth decay by the age of five and access to dentist still has a long way to go although it is ‘improving’, health leaders were told.
NHS commissioners for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin met on Wednesday and were told that from April this year they will get new powers to ‘rebase underperforming contracts without the provider agreement’.
Officials are already looking into any contract that has underperformed for three years.
They add that Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin is “comparatively overrepresented by some of the national dental providers, who tend to underperform against contracts.”
The Integrated Care Board wants to make sure that the most deprived areas – all in Telford – are given priority.
Much of the town is a desert for NHS dentistry at the same time as having concentrations of the most deprived among the population.
The report to the board said that progress has been made in increasing capacity in all wards bar central Telford wards where no providers have come forward due to “lack of dentists and no additional capacity.”
Councillor Paul Watling, a cabinet member at Telford & Wrekin Council, told the meeting in Wellington that ‘disadvantaged communities are not getting the services.”
“It does affect the hospital and other services,” he said.
“The fact that children are in A&E because of a lack of dental support in the 21st century in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin is shocking.”
Background papers to the meeting revealed data that showed each five year old child examined who had experienced tooth decay had an average of just over three teeth affected.
“It is likely that this will have caused pain and for some will have resulted in tooth extractions under general anaesthetic,” the report read.
Referring to the year 2022-23, the report added: “565 children living in
Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin received a general anaesthetic for tooth extractions.”
Health chiefs are also looking to use four ‘golden hellos’ of £20,000 per dentist, with two of these are ring-fenced to increase dental capacity in Telford.
This paper also proposed an increase in average payments to dentists to increase the number of patients that they can see.
The report identifies Telford as ‘priority area 1’ for improvement with the wards Madeley and Sutton Hill, Woodside, Dawley and Aqueduct, Malinslee and Dawley Bank, Brookside and The Nedge named.
It then ranks other parts of Shropshire, including other parts of Telford, with a priority status
Priority Area 2: Market Drayton West & East wards
Priority Area 3: Oswestry South & Oswestry West wards
Priority Area 4: Ludlow East ward
Priority Area 5: Telford: College, Haygate, Hadley and Leegomery
Priority Area 6: Telford: Donnington, St Georges, Oakengates and Ketley Bank, Wrockardine Wood and Trench.
Priority Area 7: Shrewsbury. Castlefields and Ditherington, Harlescott, Monkmoor and Sundorne wards
Around 22 000 people in the south-eastern corner of Shropshire bordering Wolverhampton and Staffordshire have had fluoridated water since the mid to late 1980s.
Health chiefs have been recommended to consider the ‘positive impact of water fluoridation’ in Bridgnorth, Eardington, Quatford, Claverley, Badger, Albrighton, Cosford and Boningale when prioritising areas for investment in dental services.
